Most of the content we produce for Tremolo aims to inspire and advise students of the benefits of online music tutoring. But what about the experience of music tutors
With a combined experience of 13 years in teaching music, both in person and exclusively online, I believe I am well placed to provide some guidance to tutors considering transitioning to online music teaching.
Why I chose to teach online
My first experience of online music lessons wasn't as a teacher but as a student. Having discovered gypsy jazz, I was eager to get some lessons but couldn't find anyone teaching gypsy jazz guitar lessons near me. After scrolling through various forums, I found the contact details of the fantastic Argentinian guitarist Gonazolo Bergara. Aside from the fantastic subject material Gonzalo taught, it always blew my mind that I was getting lessons from across the world; whether it was Los Angeles or Buenos Aires, I could tune up, log in and learn from one of the best players in the world, right from my home.
Once I had established a sizeable amount of evening students, I began to offer online lessons to adults' daytime enquiries, and while sometimes a little unsure at first, they soon began to realise it was just as good as in-person lessons, and they didn't have to clean up for me coming, or get in the car and drive to me. This had been on growing at a steady pace leading up to Covid, but in 2020, we all had to jump online completely, and we never jumped back.
Undoubtedly, the most rewarding aspect of teaching online has been the opportunity to assist students from around the world. From Wales to England, France to Dubai and Qatar to Brazil, it never fails to amaze me that technology has enabled me to reach students so far away.
But what about the practicalities of teaching online? Well, I've asked some of our tutors for their opinion.
Tom - "For me, it's the ability to connect with people from anywhere, not limited to physical proximity. Also, the ease of sharing transcriptions, useful links, lesson notes etc. If not online, I could still email them over, but being able to send it in the chat there and then is more useful and practical for the student,"
Don - “Having the flexibility to arrange lessons from the comfort of one’s home is a positive to both the student and the tutor “, “ “Being able to teach a pupil in their own environment, where they are comfortable translates into a comfortable learning experience for the student” “Teaching online has the benefit of being able to screen share, which is helpful for breaking down the more complicated minutiae of notation.
Adam - "Since moving online, the updates in technology have also opened up whole new areas in educational resources. We can now record video and audio files which can be sent directly to pupils' devices to help them with their playing further and also store all their lessons into PDF files at the touch of a button. So gone are the days of pupils forgetting tricky parts in lessons with their video and audio reminders or losing valuable physical notes made during lessons, with everything now backed up in PDFs in their emails. Between just these two points alone of logistics and educational resources - online music lessons seem the way forward for teachers and pupils"
What do I miss about teaching in person?
I only miss chatting with other tutors during breaks or parents after lessons. That being said, the pros out-way out way the cons for both tutors and learners,
If you think you would be a good fit for our team, please send us a CV. We are about to make some big changes and will look for quality tutors for all instruments.